Box City Event: Children learn urban development

Published on 17-05-2016 at 11:57

The tiny architects of Box City walk through the miniature buildings after learning about urban and city planning during the event sponsored by the American Institute of Architects. About 200 children designed and built the tiny buildings for the city, which took shape Saturday in the atrium of the Wellington E. Webb Municipal Building. (Jordan Steffen, The Denver Post)

Box City in Denver, Colorado is a free event for children, ages 5 to 12, where participants learn about the process of urban development and the principles that make for sound architecture, design and planning. Such as:

Creating a building permit for their desired building type
Make a sketch of their building in the Design Studio
Head to the Hardware Store to get their cardboard and paper supplies
Head to the Construction Zone to make their Box City
Complete a Building Inspection Process

The event took place in April last month and 300 participants were expected to attend through the day at Denver’s Wellington E. Webb Building.

Ken Schroeppel, co-chair of the Box City committee, and an assistant professor at the University of Colorado Denver’s College of Architecture and Planning, said the event is designed to get kids thinking about their environment.

“It’s amazing how smart they are and how intuitive it is to them,” Schroeppel said. “Clearly, they observe the built environment around them. This is a way for them to creatively express how they view it.”

References

Robles., Y (04/23/2016) Volunteers help kids build city to learn about urban planning at Denver Box City event. Denver Post. Retrieved From: http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_29805322/volunteers-help-kids-build-city-learn-about-urban#disqus_thread

http://doorsopendenver.com/special-activities/box-city/

Photo Credit: Photo By: Denver Post